SPEAKER_00 0:06

If you want your dream to be, build it slow and surely. Small beginning, greater and heartfelt work grows purely.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

Welcome. This is David Russell and your faith anew, daily reflections guiding you to live in the divine will. Today's reflection is from the Book of Heaven by the servant of God Louisa Picaretta, november second, nineteen oh five, volume six. Let us begin in the will and name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Heavenly Father, awaken within us a deeper awareness of your loving presence. Free our hearts from the need to understand everything before we trust you. Through your Holy Spirit, teach us to recognize the gentle voice of Jesus amid the uncertainties of life. May our hearts become attentive to your grace, receptive to your truth, and generous in love. Amen. A reading from the book of Proverbs, chapter three, verses five through eight. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. On your own intelligence, do not rely. In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. This will mean health for your flesh and vigor for your bones. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches in paragraph three hundred fourteen. We firmly believe that God is master of the world and of its history. But the ways of His providence are often unknown to us. Only at the end, when our partial knowledge ceases, when we see God face to face, will we fully know the ways by which, even through the dramas of evil and sin, God has guided His creation to that definitive Sabbath rest for which He created heaven and earth. Let us listen with hearts prepared to discover something of God's wisdom that ordinary human understanding cannot fully grasp. Louisa writes As I was in my usual state, I was very afflicted because of the privation of my adorable Jesus, and I was saying Ah Lord, I want nothing but you. I find no other contentment but in you alone, and you have left me so cruelly. While I was saying this, he came out from within my interior and told me Ah it is so I alone am your contentment, and I find all my contentment in you. So even if I had nothing else, you would render me happy. My daughter, a little bit of patience until the wars begin, for then we will place ourselves in order as before. And I, without knowing myself what I was saying, said Lord, let them begin. But immediately I added, Lord, I was wrong, and he your will must be mine. Nothing must you want, be it even a holy thing which is not conformed to my will. In the circle of my will do I want you to go round always, without going out of it for one instant, so that I may render you the master of my very self. Do I want the war? You too, and with the soul who comports herself in this way, I make my being a circle around her, in such a way as to make her live of me and in me. And he disappeared. There is a tremendous difference between believing that God loves us and trusting him with the decisions that shape our lives. Most Christians sincerely believe in God's goodness. We acknowledge His wisdom, praise His mercy, and profess our confidence in His providence. Yet when circumstances threaten something precious to us, another voice can begin speaking within our hearts. Surely, Lord, you wouldn't ask this of me. And perhaps that's where a deeper spiritual journey begins. Consider Abraham. God promised him descendants beyond counting. Yet Abraham found himself facing a command that appeared to contradict everything he had promised. The church understands this extraordinary trial within the unfolding history of salvation, not as permission for violence, but as a revelation of faith tested beyond human understanding. Abraham couldn't see the outcome. He knew only the one who had called him. His confidence rested not upon circumstances, but upon the faithfulness of God. The book of Proverbs gives us a beautiful foundation for this kind of faith. Trust in the Lord is more than a comforting religious sentiment. It means acknowledging that our understanding, however sincere, remains limited. And this becomes especially important when we speak about living in the divine will. Living in God's will does not mean surrendering our conscience, abandoning responsibility, or accepting evil as something God desires. The church teaches that God never wills moral evil. His providence, however, can bring goodness even from suffering and circumstances he permits. Jesus reveals this distinction with extraordinary tenderness. He did not remain indifferent to human suffering. He healed the sick, comforted the grieving, forgave sinners, and taught his disciples to become peacemakers. At Calvary, He did not make suffering desirable, rather, through His perfect obedience and self giving love, He transformed the greatest injustice in human history into the means of our redemption. Here we encounter something astonishing about Christian trust. We can reject evil, work for peace, pray for healing, and seek justice while remaining entirely surrendered to God's providence. In fact, these very actions may be precisely what His will asks of us. The catechism reminds us that our human wills are invited into union with the will of the Son, especially through prayer. And perhaps the most beautiful expression of that union is found in the Eucharist. When we approach Holy Communion, we receive the very Lord whose obedience restored what human disobedience had wounded. He comes to nourish us with his own life. Our surrender, then, is not merely the acceptance of what happens around us. It is the loving response of a soul being transformed by Christ within. And gradually something changes. We become less concerned with securing every outcome and more attentive to remaining faithful to the one who holds eternity. Let us pray. Jesus, my beloved Savior, you know how easily I become attached to my own expectations. Sometimes I mistake my preferences for your guidance, and my fears for wisdom. Teach me to listen more carefully. Give me the courage to act when love requires action, the patience to wait when your providence calls for patience, and the humility to recognize that your wisdom exceeds my understanding. May your Eucharistic presence deepen my union with you until my thoughts, choices, and desires become increasingly receptive to the grace of your divine will. Jesus, I place my confidence in you. Amen. Thank you for joining your faith anew today. Until tomorrow, stay in his will, and your faith will be made anew.